How to Tuesday: Sponsoring Bloggers at Conferences
Written on November 10, 2009 by Susan Payton
One excellent way to reach your audience is to sponsor a blogger to attend a conference that caters to your target audience. I didn’t write much about it here because I was acting on behalf of GiveDaddy, but I was sponsored by True Lemon to attend Type A Mom Conference a few months ago. I’ll share my experiences now.
First you need to find a blogger that is passionate about your product. Or who can be. I hadn’t used True Lemon before working with them, but once I tried the product, I recognized it as unique to its industry, and I knew that other women would be excited about a zero calorie citrus product. So that made it easy. Search for your company name and see who is talking about you. You may have a brand evangelist you don’t even know about who would make a good candidate.
Next, find a conference that is a good fit for you. For True Lemon, a conference full of women and moms was ideal. It was a bonus that they all blog (more opportunity for them to spread the word). It may be a trade show or a technical conference, depending on your product and customer profile.
Now you’ll need to work out a package. If the blogger approached you about a sponsorship, she may have packages worked out in terms of what she will provide you. For True Lemon, I:
- Blogged about them using links before, during and after the conference
- Gave away samples
- Gave away bigger prizes
- Wore their shirt
- Took video interviewing people on their perception of the product
- Held a giveaway for non attendees on my blog at the same time
If you have samples, a conference is a great place to let them try it. If your product is bigger or more expensive, invest in some sort of promotional items that don’t suck and ask your blogger to distribute them. Contests are a great way to generate a buzz.
If you feel the need to draw up a contract, do so. Usually this is a pretty informal situation.
After the conference get a report back from the blogger on the feedback she received. Make plans and tweak what you did this time for the next conference. Find a way to measure results. How many people entered the contest? Did she bring new followers to your Twitter or Facebook account? More web traffic? Did she get business cards that you can use to send info to?
What about cost? We can’t afford to sponsor a blogger. The truth is: you can’t afford not to (I say that a lot, don’t I?). Think of it like this: if your company were to exhibit at the conference, you would spend probably $20,000 on a booth, marketing and display collateral and travel expenses. You can retain the services of a blogger for far less and probably get better results.
What do you think? Would you consider sponsoring a blogger as a new marketing tool?
